


I Thought What We Had Was Special

by DeckofDragons



Category: Futurama
Genre: Bender cheats, Bender is a jerk, Break Up, Cheating, Fry is a sweetheart, Happy Ending, Leela is mom-friend, M/M, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28767726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: Bender cheats. Fry finds out.
Relationships: Philip J. Fry & Turanga Leela, Philip J. Fry/Bender Rodriguez
Kudos: 16





	I Thought What We Had Was Special

Bender had been in plenty of romantic relationships in the past but it had always been more of lust thing than whatever it was he had with Fry. What he had with Fry was special; he cared about him in a way he never had any of his prior partners. There was probably a word for it but he didn’t care to dwell it on much because he didn’t care to dwell on such things in general. Besides, they were both happy so why did it matter?

But despite that, they hadn’t been officially dating for much more than a month before Bender cheated on him. Why he’d done it, he couldn’t say because he certainly wasn’t tired of Fry in any way, in fact he was happier than ever with him. Cheating was just something he’d always done so… he’d done it again. With a lady-bot; they flirted with each other at the bar for a bit before going back to her place for a quick fuck. He was a bit late returning home but Fry accepted his excuse, no questions asked and seemingly not the slightest bit suspicious. So really, it wasn’t a big deal. As long as Fry never found out – which he wouldn’t because he was too stupid and trusting to ever figure it out for sure even if he ever did start to suspect something – it wouldn’t matter.

So, of course, he ended up doing it again a few weeks later with a different bot, it was even a proper date at a fancy restaurant this time, making it worse. Fry would never know though so it was fine. Things were going very well up until…

“Bender!”

He snapped around to see Leela glaring at him. “What do you think you’re doing?” Oh boy, she was mad. Madder than she _should_ be because it’s not like he was cheating on her.

“Uh… just chatting with an old pal of mine,” he replied with a forced grin, glancing back at his date – a smithing bot named Melter who suddenly looked a lot more uncomfortable. “We used to work in the same factory and were just catching up.” Which was true so technically Bender couldn’t be called on an _actual_ lie, he was just leaving out the fact that they were on a date.

Unfortunately, Leela wasn’t fooled. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself. How do you think Fry would feel if you knew about this?” Oof, she just had to bring that up, didn’t she?

“Welp,” Melter said with a grimace as they stood up. “I think I’ll be going now.” They were fleeing the scene before they were even finished speaking.

“Now look what you’ve done.” Bender glared up at Leela. “I had a fun evening planned and you ruined it.”

“Well too bad, you shouldn’t be cheating.” Fair point but…

“Why are you even here?” It was a nice restaurant, pretty much the only people who came here were couples and the occasional poly group. The kind of place Fry would never go without Bender and thus it _should’ve_ been safe.

Still glaring at him, Leela sat in the seat Melter had just vacated. “If you must know, I have a date here in…” she glanced at her watch, “like half an hour. I arrived early because I’m kind of nervous actually. But anyway…”

“Ooh,” Bender interrupted, “you got yourself another boyfriend? How long do you think this one will last? My bet’s on no more than two dates.” That would hopefully get her talking about _not_ Fry and the fact that Bender was cheating on him.

She glared at him. “I _thought_ you and Fry were happy together, that… that… you’d found someone you actually wanted to be with as more than just a short fling like all your other romances. I know Fry’s head over heels in love with you.” Oh gosh, did she have to use the ‘l’ word, really? It’s like she was trying to make Bender feel bad. … Which well, she was, wasn’t she? And it was working. “But here you are doing _this_! How could you? And how long has this been going on? From the start?”

“No! This is only the second time I’ve done this. I’m still plenty happy with Fry, I just want some variety every now and then. He doesn’t know though so it’s fine. And as long as he doesn’t know, it won’t hurt him so you _better_ not tell.”

Leela frowned at him even harder before sighing. “Fine, I won’t tell but _only_ if you promise to never to cheat on him again, okay?”

“Okay, all right, I won’t do it again, I promise.” Not where she was likely to see anyway.

“Good, now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date to get ready for.”

Upon returning home a short time later, Fry greeted him with a large grin and a hug because he was a touchy-feely kind of guy. It was sappy but he was warm and squishy in Bender’s arm and his lips were soft when they shared a brief kiss before separating.

“I missed you,” Fry said, still grinning.

“I wasn’t gone that long.”

“I know but… I get lonely sometimes when there’s no one around to talk to and stuff. But you’re home now so everything’s better.” Ugh, he was too sweet and cute for his good.

“Pansy.”

“Yeah, I know.” Fry shrugged, unphased by the insult. “But let’s watch some TV before going to bed. If we’re lucky, something good might even be on.” There probably wasn’t but watching TV before heading to bed had been part of their routine since long before they started dating. New to their routine since then though was the cuddling because Fry was a cuddler, the fact that Bender was made of metal never seemed to bother him. And even if Bender would never admit it out loud, he enjoyed it too and thus was more than willing to put up with it.

Tonight though, as Fry inevitably ended up leaning into him, Bender was almost tempted to push him away. Not because he didn’t want to cuddle but because… Fry deserved better than to be cheated on and if Leela hadn’t caught him that’s exactly what Bender would still be doing right now. … Fine, Bender _would_ keep that promise to Leela. Not because he cared what she thought of him and his actions but because Fry deserved better. Bender could be a _slightly_ better person for him.

…

Not even quite a full month later, Bender cheated again. How was he supposed to say ‘no’ when a sexy man-bot approached him and started flirting? Just once more couldn’t hurt, it’s not like Fry would ever find out, right?

***

“See I told you he’d do it again,” Amy whispered as they watched Bender leaving the club with his new companion.

Leela couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I know you did and you were right.” She hadn’t wanted to believe it though, mostly for Fry’s sake. “And I was about to suggest we stop following him around too.” Keeping an eye on him had been Amy’s idea after Leela had told her about what she’d caught Bender doing and the promise she’d extracted from him about it. She’d been _hoping_ Amy was just be pessimistic but nope, Bender was just a terrible person.

“We have to tell Fry. He deserves to know even if he shouldn’t be surprised, it is Bender after all. Seriously, what was Fry thinking? What does he even see in Bender? I mean he’s fun to have around sometimes but… why would anyone who knows him want to date him?”

Leela didn’t really get it either but… “That’s not for us to understand. But you’re right, we need to tell him Bender’s cheating on him. Let me handle that.” As much as she dreaded such an uncomfortable conversation, Amy had a tendency to be blunt in a way that wouldn’t be helpful in such situations.

***

“Fry, we need to talk,” Leela said almost as soon as Bender had left the cockpit – after much complaining of course – to deal with delivering the package alone because he was the only one who could set foot on the planet’s surface without combusting.

Fry swiveled his chair to face her. “About what?”

“Bender. He’s uh…. cheating on you.”

“What? No way.” Fry scoffed, expecting her serious look to go away but… it didn’t.

“I’m serious.”

“But… he wouldn’t do that to me. I know he's not the best person morally speaking and can be pretty selfish at times and has cheated on his partners in the past, but what we have is special.” Or at least felt special to Fry. … What if that was just him though? No, couldn’t be, right? “So… there’s no way he’s cheating on me.”

“I’m sorry but he is. I caught him at it twice. The first time I made him promise not to do it again but I saw him again last night at the club with Amy. I didn’t confront him this time but there was no doubt he was flirting with someone else. He even went home with them.”

Fry took a breath to voice a protest but… Leela wouldn’t lie to him about this. When not counting Bender, she was his best friend _and_ she’d nothing but supportive since Fry and Bender had started dating, heck she’d been the one to tell him to make a move on Bender. So she had _zero_ reason to try to break them up or make them upset with each other. Meaning she had to be telling the truth. But… “Maybe you’re misinterpreting things? Like uh… maybe he was just hanging out with his cousin or something?” Did robots even have cousins?

“I wouldn’t be telling you if I wasn’t absolutely sure.” She could still be wrong though, right? Even if it was unlikely because she was smart and thus was right about things most of the time.

“Well… I uh… I’ll talk to him about it later today. And then I’m sure he’ll offer an explanation.” Because what they had was special, Bender wouldn’t be _that_ awful to him.

“Okay then. If things go poorly and you need a place to stay tonight, my couch is available.” Well, she certainly was a pessimistic. It was nice of her to offer though even if it wouldn’t be needed.

Fry wanted to wait to bring it up until they got home to give himself more time to think about it in general as well as how he wanted to broach the topic, and to ensure it would be a private conversation. But after they returned to the Planet Express building, they sort of ended up alone in the break room together. Nothing unusual, that’s often where they went upon returning from a mission, to laze around and watch TV, avoiding any further responsibility for the rest of the day until it was time to go home and watch TV there instead. But what was odd was the look Bender gave him after closing the door instead of heading the couch.

“What’s bothering you meatbag?” Oh no, he knew something was wrong. Though that wasn’t really surprising, Fry wasn’t great at pretending everything was okay and had kind of not been talking much the past couple hours since Leela had told him the news. Which, even if it couldn’t be true, still was something to worry about until he knew for absolute certain.

And as bad as he was at acting, he was even worse with words so… “Uh…” he looked away, burying his hands in his jacket pockets. Beating around the bush or trying to bring it up subtly would probably just leave him stumbling over his words and saying ‘nothing’ wasn’t an option, leaving him with only one way to say it. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at Bender. “Leela told me that you’re cheating on me.”

It might’ve just been Fry’s imagination, wanting to believe the worst, but Bender seemed to flinch which… basically confirmed it, didn’t it? “Did she now?” No immediate denial or explanation either, huh?

“Yep, she told me she caught you twice. The first time, she made you promise to stop but then saw you doing it again last night.” And come to think of it, Bender had returned home really late last night. Fry hadn’t thought much of it; while they did most things together since they were dating, roommates, and worked the same job, they each still occasionally went out and did their own things. … Bender had always had more of his own things to do than Fry. Had he started going out on his own more since they’d started dating? Maybe a little? It was hard to tell though, Fry had never paid much attention to such things. Maybe he should’ve though.

Bender was silent as he looked away. If he really had been unfaithful – which while Fry still wanted to believe the best of him, that was starting to grow hard – _all_ he had to do was admit it and apologize and Fry would forgive him. Maybe that would be being too easy on him but as long as he never did it again, it wouldn’t be _that_ big a deal as far as Fry was concerned. What they had was special, Bender had to see that and thus see the error of his ways now that he was being called out, right? … … …

“She’s lying,” Bender finally said in a forced flippant tone. “You know I wouldn’t do that to you.” He was a decent liar and it probably would’ve fooled someone who didn’t know him well but Fry knew him probably better than he’d ever known anyone before and thus it didn’t fool him even if he wanted it to. If Bender had been telling the truth he would’ve been more openly offended by the accusation instead of obviously trying to _act_ like he wasn’t. And the _hesitation_ before replying, there was _no doubt_ he’d been cheating and apparently didn’t care to even admit to it and apologize. “That fact that she’d even _suggest_ such a thing…”

“You’re lying,” Fry interrupted.

Another small flinch, no doubt about it this time even if he did recover quickly, putting on an angry expression. “So you believe _her_ over me, your boyfriend and best friend? I thought you trusted me more than that but I guess I was wrong.” He crossed his arms and turned away with an offended air as if _he_ had any right to be upset here.

“I _do_ trust you and I want to believe you but… you’ve made that _really_ hard. And I… I just can’t. I thought what we had was special but I guess it isn’t to you.” Before the tears threatening to well up in his eyes could betray just how hurt he was, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

***

Bender flinched again, more at Fry’s words than at the sound of the door slamming. “It is special,” he mumbled to himself as he turned to look at the now closed door. “Or… _was_.”

Fry was dumb but… not even he was _that_ dumb, huh? Bender shouldn’t have expected any different. What was he supposed to have done though? Admit to it? No way. He should’ve been prepared for the question as soon as he realized Fry was upset about something – because really what else could’ve it have been with him having only been alone with Leela, the only other person who knew he was cheating? – and denied it immediately, pretend it was preposterous idea.

But nope, he’d hesitated and had even considered coming clean about it because whenever he really thought about it, he felt bad like some kind of idiot with morals. He should be able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted but somehow he’d ended up caring about Fry enough that doing things that hurt him in any significant way made Bender feel _bad_ and _guilty_. And now _horrible_ because he’d fucked up and Fry knew and there was no taking that back.

It was all Leela’s fault for tattling on him. If she’d just kept her dumb mouth shut, everything would still be fine, he’d only have to feel guilty over being unfaithful to Fry when he returned home afterwards. But _no_ , she’d just had to tell him, not only hurting him but also ruining everything.

But maybe him and Fry weren’t completely over. They’d had fights in the past, majority of them Bender’s fault – though he’d never admit to that out loud – and Fry had always forgiven him eventually. Yeah sure, they hadn’t had a big fight since they’d started dating, only a few mild arguments over things of little consequence, but the principle still applied, right? Fry would get over it eventually and then everything would go back to how it was before. Bender just had to put up with his ire for however long it took him to get over it. Which would be punishment enough for his mistake and then he’d never do it again so everything would be fine in the end.

***

The look on Fry’s face as he approached Leela in the locker room as she was getting ready to head home said it all. She’d never seen him so miserable before, he even looked like he’d been crying not long ago. If Bender weren’t a robot, she’d kick him in the groin for being such an awful jerk.

“You were right,” he said as he stood next to her, hands in his pockets as he stared dejectedly at the floor. “Bender was cheating on me. What we had wasn’t special after all, I was just a fool.”

Comforting people wasn’t really Leela’s thing but she’d certainly had boyfriends that cheated on her before so she knew what that was like, the first time was always the worst. So taking a deep breath, she closed her locker and turned to face him. “No, it _was_ special because it was special to you and you’re not a fool. Bender’s the one who’s a fool for not seeing what he had in you.”

Fry shrugged. “So uh… your couch still available? I don’t really want to go home tonight because Bender’s going to be there and I’d rather not see him and the apartment’s too small to really avoid him.”

“Yeah, it’s still free. I was about to head home so if you’re ready to leave we can go now. And uh… here you can carry Nibbler, he’ll make you feel better.” She bent down to scoop him up off the floor and put him into Fry’s arms after pulling off his harness and leash. He needed the exercise but Fry probably needed the comfort more right now.

“Uh… hmmm, I guess he does make me feel a bit bitter, thanks.”

As soon as they reached Leela’s apartment, Fry flopped onto the couch. He didn’t even turn on the TV, he just slipped his shoes off and lay himself out on it, placing Nibbler on his chest to pet as he stared up at the ceiling; the exact dejected image of someone who’d just had their heart broken via finding out their partner was cheating on them. Nibbler seemed okay with it so with a sigh, Leela left them to it. Hopefully she wouldn’t regret inviting Fry to crash on her couch for a while.

She wasn’t even quite two steps into the kitchen before her cell phone rang. Pulling it out her pocket she was not at all surprised to see it was Bender calling. She had some things she wanted to tell him anyway so she might as well answer it.

“You’re a jerk,” she said before Bender could start whatever he wanted to say.

“No! You’re the jerk. Why’d you have to tell him? He would’ve never found out if you hadn’t ratted me out.”

“True and that just makes it worse. And don’t try saying I shouldn’t have told him or anything because he has a right to know. I _told_ you if I caught you cheating again, I’d tell him so you have no one but yourself to blame. And now he’s hurt and upset and it’s all your fault so I hope you’re proud of yourself for that jerk bag.” She didn’t wait for a reply before hanging up because she wasn’t in the mood for him right now.

Immediately her phone starting ringing again. She declined and silenced it before slipping it back into her pocket. Later she’d call the rest of the Planet Express crew to let them know they needed to shun Bender for being a jerk to Fry until he apologized, assuming Bender even knew _how_ to apologize.

***

Everyone at Planet Express was mad at Bender. Which made sense, he had been the one who’d done wrong so of course they sided with Fry. But it was still no fair because it was none of any of their business. And to make it worse, the way they all chose to express their anger was the cold shoulder, the _worst_ kind of anger because it meant everyone went out of their way to not pay attention to him _even_ when he was purposefully being obnoxious. Even Professor Farnsworth ignored him more often than not because everyone else was and Leela had _told_ him to. Not even Zoidberg wanted to talk to him anymore.

Even when he skipped going into work, no one called him up to ask why he hadn’t come or demand he do so. He would’ve stopped going to work entirely if it wasn’t for the fact that at work was the only place he could see Fry because he apparently lived on Leela’s couch now. Which was… whatever, he just needed some space, he’d get over it eventually and come back to Bender. And then everyone else would forgive Bender too and pay attention to him again.

Except even after more than a month had gone by, Fry still showed no signs of being over it. He never talked to Bender and sometimes even left the room when Bender entered. _Nothing_ worked to get his attention: ignoring him completely, passive-aggressively faking happiness whenever he was around, and being miserable all failed to provoke much of a response from him. Even when Bender let himself run so low on fuel, he was barely functional, Fry didn’t seem to care much.

What if… he never got over it? What if Bender had fucked up so badly this time, there was no coming back from it? What if he’d ruined everything forever? … What would he even _do_ with himself without Fry and Planet Express? Before meeting Fry all he knew was bending girders which he’d already firmly decided he’d rather die than spend his life doing _that_. Going back to the suicide booth and going through with it this time was an option, not one he really wanted to take though especially when there _was_ a potential option to fix things. He hated the idea of it and would rather not but he hated that he’d hurt Fry and that Fry was now no longer even talking to him let alone anything else even more. It might not work but it was probably worth a try since waiting out Fry’s anger didn’t seem like it was going to happen this time.

So having reached a decision and before he could change his mind, he sent a text to Fry’s cellphone. ‘ _We need to talk. Meet at home after work?_ ’

Two minutes and thirty-five seconds shy of exactly three hours passed before Fry finally sent a reply. ‘ _k_ ’ That was it? Not much to go on to guess his thoughts or feelings on this meeting. Though to be fair, Bender’s message hadn’t exactly given much information either. Ugh, this whole emotions and caring about people thing really sucked sometimes.

He opened his eyes to survey the room, the closet technically but since Fry had moved in, it had become the living area and Bender had spent far more time in here than the front. It was a mess of course. Maybe Bender should clean it up a little since that’s what humans did when in this kind of situation, right? Cleaning up garnered some good will with them. … They also gifted dead plants sometimes too, didn’t they? What kind though? … He’d never paid close enough attention to remember. … If he was dating a human, he should probably make an effort to learn at least a little about their customs and stuff, huh? … Hmm, that was something he’d worry about later. First, he had to do something about the fuck up he’d landed himself in.

Fry showed up a handful of minutes after Bender had finished clearing out the worst of the mess. “You uh… cleaned, that’s new,” he said, closing the door as he glanced around the room.

“And I got you these,” Bender said, holding out his handful of plants that he’d stolen from the gardening bot a few doors down.

Fry gave it skeptical look but accepted it. “Carrots and… an onion? Thanks, I guess.”

“Humans like that kind of thing, right? It’s viewed as a kind gesture to give someone a handful of plants.” One that would hopefully win him some forgiveness points.

“Well uh… actually you know what? I guess this is close enough, thanks.” Despite his words he didn’t seem to relax much. He didn’t even go over to sit on the couch, instead staying by the door as if he expected not to stay for long. Not a good sign. “What’s this about though? You said we needed to talk.”

“I did yes.” And now that Fry was here, he couldn’t take it back and… didn’t _really_ want to even if he’d rather not do this. “Leela was telling the truth, I was cheating on you.”

Fry opened his mouth to say something but Bender immediately interrupted him. “Shut up. No talking until I’m done saying what I want to say because if _you_ say something it’s just going to make me say something stupid in response and then we’ll be fighting again, so _don’t_ , understood?”

Fry snapped his mouth closed and nodded. He even lifted his free hand to mime zipping his lips shut. He then gestured towards Bender; an invitation to continue.

Unable to hold his gaze or keep still while saying this, Bender looked away and started pacing, gesturing with his hands he spoke. “I cheated on you. I shouldn’t have and I feel bad about it. You were right when you said what we had was special because it was to me. I’ve never… felt like this about anyone before. And honestly it sucks a lot of time but… but… sometimes it’s really nice too. Like whenever I do something that makes you laugh or when we hang out watching TV and cuddling or whenever you tell me how great I am. But I fucked it all up like a moron. I don’t know why exactly I cheated, I just kind of did because that’s what I’ve always done in the past and… I don’t know. It was unfair to you and hurt you though so… I’m really, _really_ sorry.” He stopped pacing, letting his arms droop towards the floor as he started down at it.

Behind him, Fry was silent for several horribly long seconds. “You really mean that?”

“Yes.”

“And you promise to never do it again?”

Bender turned around to see that Fry had stepped closer. “Assuming you’d ever have me back, I’d never do it again.” And he actually meant it this time because it wasn’t worth it _and_ because Fry deserved better. Could he _really_ hope that Fry would take him back though? It’s what he’d had him come here for but…

“Well uh…” Fry looked around before placing the plants Bender had given him into one his jacket pockets. He then extended that hand towards Bender. “Then I forgive you.”

“Really? Just like that?”

“Yep. All I wanted was you to admit it and apologize and promise to never do it again. So I’ll gladly have you back if you’ll have me.”

If it had been anyone other than himself, Bender would’ve thought Fry was dumb for being so forgiving. And maybe even now he still thought that because seriously, who forgave being cheated on with a just a simple apology and easily broken promise to never do it again? Only Fry probably because he’d always been too forgiving for his own good. This would be far from the first time Bender had taken advantage of that though so he wasn’t going to fight it, instead for once in his life he was going to try to be worthy of that easily gained forgiveness.

“All right, thanks,” he said. “So uh… all’s good between us again then?”

“Yes,” Fry said before stepping closer to hug him. It was a bit sudden but it was nice to hold him again after so long. He warm and soft, the way only living things could be. Sometimes Bender wished he could soft like that.

“I missed you,” he whispered, hating how emotional he sounded but it had been a _long_ month of being shunned by everyone he’d ever cared about but especially Fry.

“I missed you too. And uh… I’d wanted to say this for a while but never found the right time to so uh while we’re being sappy and hugging and stuff; I love you.”

Ah yes, that was the word for how Bender felt too, huh? _So_ while they were still being gross and sappy with each other, “I love you too.”

He held Fry for a few more precious seconds before they finally withdrew. “Don’t ever tell anyone about how sappy and stuff I’ve been tonight, okay? I have an image to maintain. If the other robots knew I was getting all emotional and lovey-dovey with a meatbag I’d never hear the end of it _and_ they wouldn’t think I was cool anymore.”

“Okay. You’ll always be super cool to me no matter what though.” Fry smiled and looked at him with that expression of his that almost always melted Bender’s cold dead metaphorical mechanical heart.

“Good because I’m super cool. And I suppose you’re kind of cool sometimes too.”

“Thanks.” Fry gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Let’s watch some TV now though, huh? Tomorrow we can tell everyone that we made up.”

Bender wasn’t looking forward to that since it would undoubtedly involve admitting he’d earnestly acknowledged his wrong doing and apologized for it. That could wait for tomorrow though because… “Good idea, the new episode of _All My Circuits_ should be starting soon.” And he’d finally get to watch it with Fry again, watching it just wasn’t the same without him.


End file.
